Steve Ballmer bringing the spirit of Microsoft Clippy back from the recycling bin?

"It looks like Microsoft is trying to get a big tax break by slashing vital government services."

Microsoft Clippy was rejected by customers because he had an irritating habit of showing up at unfortunate times to offer help you don't need. Now, like Clippy back from the bin, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is popping up in the middle of the budget debate in Washington, DC, pretending to offer useful advice. He's joined dozens of other big bucks CEOs (including Howard Schultz of Starbucks) in support of all-greed budget agenda by lending his name to the "Fix the Debt" corporate front group.

Ballmer and his fellow CEOs keep on trying to autoformat the budget debate into the same old trickle-down template: more tax cuts for the top one percent, and more budget cuts for the rest of us. But customers and community members know that we need jobs, not cuts, so they're calling on CEOs like Ballmer to stop fronting for the "Fix the Debt" all-greed agenda.

Who: Microsoft and Starbucks customers and community members opposed to the all-greed trickle-down agenda being pushed by big-bucks CEOs.

What: Rally at University Village, then march to Microsoft Store and Starbucks to send their CEOs a message: our economy needs jobs, not cuts. Seniors and others who would be directly affected by cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will speak out and call on these local CEOs to drop their support of Fix the Debt.

When: Wednesday, February 20, 2013, 12:00 noon.

Where: University Village Shopping Center. (GPS Address: 2623 NE University Village St, Seattle, WA 98105) Rally will be followed by a march to the Microsoft Store, Starbucks, and Bank of America — three of the companies whose CEOs have endorsed the Fix the Debt corporate front group.

The "Fix the Debt" CEO agenda — lower tax rates for the rich, new corporate loopholes, and massive spending reductions — amounts to a budget plan that would give new breaks to big corporations and the ultra-rich … and pay for it with deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other vital government services.

The CEOs who have endorsed these priorities — including Steve Ballmer, Howard Schultz, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs and dozens of others — say this is about "fixing the debt". But what really needs fixing is their greed: just one of the new loopholes they are pushing would save Microsoft alone an estimated $19 billion in taxes.

Microsoft & Starbucks are considered local icons, but the agenda their CEOs are pushing don't reflect our community's values. We voted for jobs, not cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. We voted to close corporate loopholes, not create new ones. And we voted to make sure the rich pay their fair share, not lower their tax rates.

That's why many customers and community members are outraged that Ballmer and Schultz have come together with dozens of other ultra-wealthy CEOs to try and autoformat the budget debate and peddle the same old trickle-down brew in Congress. And we won't stop speaking out until Ballmer & Schultz renounce their support of the "Fix the Debt" trickle-down agenda.

Working Washington is bringing people together to fight for a fair economy. We are speaking out to demand that our political leaders do what it takes to invest in good jobs and move the economy forward. We need good jobs — not cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other vital services. For more information, visit WorkingWA.org

About Working Washington: Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work. More info…

Our mission is to build a powerful workers’ movement that can not only dramatically improve wages and working conditions, but can also change the local and national conversation about wealth, inequality, and the value of work.

Working Washington fast food strikers sparked the fight that won Seattle's landmark $15 minimum wage. We drove Amazon to sever ties with right-wing lobby group ALEC and improve conditions in their sweatshop warehouses. And we helped lead the winning campaign in SeaTac for a $15 living wage.